Do customers ask the same questions?
A chatbot may help with recurring questions about services, availability or ordering. Before implementation, prepare approved answers and decide which details it should collect before passing an enquiry to your team.
The channel matters: a website assistant and a messaging assistant have different integrations and conditions. Do not assume that a feature in a demonstration can be enabled identically across all your social accounts.
Does your team search through documents?
An internal assistant starts with company documents and access permissions. It can help a colleague find a procedure or a catalogue detail. The answer’s source and document date should be available for checking.
For example, Intercom’s knowledge-source documentation distinguishes content used by assistants and teams. For your own setup, define which documents each user may access and who keeps them current.
Is the problem copying between systems?
If an enquiry needs to be saved to a spreadsheet and a person notified, a rule-based automation may be enough. AI becomes useful when the task involves interpreting free text, summarizing a message or extracting information that simple rules cannot organize reliably.
Illustrative example: a form saves details to a CRM; AI prepares a summary of the message; a colleague checks and responds. The three components have different roles and can be tested separately.
Ask these questions before requesting a quote
- Who uses the solution: a customer or an employee?
- Does it answer questions or also change records?
- Which sources are approved?
- What happens when information is missing?
- Who takes over or corrects the result?
- Which costs continue after launch?
A useful demonstration includes a question the system cannot answer. How it stops and asks for help matters as much as its successful responses.
Start with one scenario
Choose a frequent, bounded task. For a website chatbot, begin with your offer and common questions. For messaging assistants, check the channel first. For an internal assistant, prepare documents and access rules.
Evaluate the first version through correct examples, human handoffs and review time. A fluent answer alone does not establish that the system is ready for everyday work.
Your checklist
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